All hopes rest on April showers

All hopes rest on April showers
The Hindu

Weather office says chances of summer showers next week are bright

# The average rainfall for April is put at 49 mm
# Rainfall in April was 324 mm in 2001 and 9 mm in 2002



Bangalore: As temperatures in Bangalore unrelentingly hover around 36 degrees Celsius in April, all hopes rest on the summer showers. Horticulturalists and florists long to see their wilting crops revive, and long-time residents of Bangalore want their "air-conditioned city" back.

The April rains or "mango showers" as they are called are a result of thunderstorms over the Bay of Bengal and normally come in the second half of the month. They have a cooling effect on the city.

However, these summer rains are most difficult to predict, according to the Meteorological Centre Director, G.S. Vijayaraghavan.

Mr. Vijayaraghavan, pointing to the rainfall figures for the past five years, said rainfall in April was as high as 324 mm in 2001, and as low as 9 mm in 2002. The "average" rainfall for April was approximately 46 mm, with just three rainy days.

It is not unusual to have no rain or very little rain in April. A look at the rainfall pattern for April over the last century, compiled by the Centre of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, shows that 57 years had zero to 40 mm of rain.

Sandhya A., an old-time Bangalorean, remembers occasions when the city did not received any "mango showers" but says she did not despair.

"We have survived through those months, because in my experience, just when we feel that we cannot tolerate the heat anymore, it rains and the temperature comes down," she says.

Chief Engineer of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Narayanaswamy is keeping his fingers crossed for a good mid-April shower, which will help ease the power shortage situation. "Even a small amount of rainfall will help us. Farmers then will not depend so much on irrigation pumpsets and we will be able to save up to 40 per cent of power," he says.

Water suppliers happy

Meanwhile, if someone is not complaining about lack of rain it is the private water supplier who can now make hay while the sun shines.

Tankers of 5,000-litre capacity supplying water to the sun-parched city are a common sight these days. A water tanker driver told The Hindu that his company sells around 75,000 to one lakh litres of water everyday.

He said that they draw water from the borewells and make eight trips around the city every day.

According to Mr. Vijayaraghavan, "April showers depend on two factors. One, adequate moisture brought in by the easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal, and two, sufficient heat to ensure cloud formations".

The heat is evidently not a problem, he says, adding that he is optimistic about the rains too.

"The easterlies are showing signs of strengthening, and if these wind patterns continue, then Bangalore can expect rains in the course of next week," he says.